chapters in action
Continued Service
After serving for years in the military, many servicemembers continue to serve after they hang up their uniforms. That’s why MOAA can count on them to support its goals.
Many councils and chapters sponsor and work on community-service projects
such as Operation Helping Hand, Community Blueprint, A Soldier’s Child, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Honor Flight — to name just a handful of hundreds of programs councils and chapters support across the country. Our members who conduct and participate in these programs are having a positive impact on their communities and individuals.
Chapter members who support Junior ROTC (JROTC) scholarship programs often have a difficult challenge when it comes time to select the scholarship winners. Most chapters have more overqualified entries than they can support. Many chapters conduct annual special recognition award dinners hosting JROTC cadets and their parents to recognize the scholarship recipients. These award dinners are significant events and provide memories that will stay with the parents and students for years to come.
Today’s JROTC programs build character and better citizens. When I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk with these young JROTC students, I’ve always been impressed by their confidence and maturity.
Chapters also can have a positive impact within our currently serving community by conducting programs that recognize outstanding junior and company-grade officers serving in nearby units. These programs not only recognize the outstanding service of junior officers, but they can also have the secondary effect of promoting recognition of local MOAA chapters and our association’s mission.
Chapters and councils are critically important to achieving success at both the national and the state level. As discussed in this department’s main story, “Grassroots Advocates,” councils coordinate chapters’ state legislative efforts, which enhance MOAA’s One Powerful Voice®.
Our councils and chapters continue to make a positive difference in our association and their communities. Their continued participation and support, at all levels, helps MOAA’s “voice” stay strong and powerful.
On Nov. 14-16, many of our council and chapter leaders will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to attend MOAA’s annual meeting. This is a great opportunity to meet MOAA headquarters staff and participate in many of the eight signature events being held. We will highlight the 2013 annual meeting in an upcoming issue of Military Officer. If you aren’t scheduled to attend, consider planning ahead to attend the 2014 annual meeting in the Washington, D.C., area. I hope to see you there.
— Col. Barry Wright, USA (Ret) Director, Council and Chapter Affairs
On the road: This month, Col. Barry Wright, USA (Ret), director, MOAA Council and Chapter Affairs, will visit members of the Mount Vernon and Shenandoah Valley chapters in Virginia. See MOAA Calendar, page 98, for dates.
Grassroots Advocates
MOAA members work legislation at the local level.
The Ohio Council of Chapters (
www.ohiomoaa.org) learned firsthand big legislative victories can come in small increments when Gov. John Kasich signed into law H.B. 59. The bill, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2014, exempts uniformed servicemembers’ retired pay and Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) payments from state income tax.
In December 2007, council members achieved a partial victory when then-Gov. Ted Strickland signed into law H.B. 372, exempting armed forces members’ retired pay and SBP payments from state income tax. NOAA and Public Health Service retirees and survivors were excluded from the bill.
online: Find out what’s happening at MOAA’s 2013 annual meeting at
www.moaa.org/2013annualmeeting.
44 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2013
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